Friction grip rope puller



March 1, 1966 H. 0. DOHMEHER 3,237,920

FRICTION GRIP ROPE FULLER Filed Jan. 1?, 1964 42 41 I VEM- K HMS Ono $OHM F! 6 3 United States Patent 3,237,920 FRICTION GRIP ROPE PULLER Hans O. Dohmeier, 30 Van der Merwe St., Hillbrow,

Johannesburg, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa Filed Jan. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 338,395 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa,

Jan. 31, 1963, 63/416 Claims. (Cl. 254-105) This invention relates to improvements in a Well known machine having a rope passing through it and a projecting handle which, by reciprocation, promotes the passage of said rope for it either to lift or haul.

This well known rope puller has the rope passing through two sets of grips which grip the rope frictionally and move it step by step through the machine. The machine will be referred to herein as the puller.

The puller comprises a long shaped case having a passage for the rope at each end and means attached to the case for anchoring the machine.

The puller, that is the machine to which this invention relates, is provided in its case with two sets of grips on the rope. A pair of levers pivotally engages these grips and attaches them to a rocking plate or the like. The rocking plate is mounted on a shaft, which is the fulcrum for the levers, and said shaft is oscillated by an operating handle which perforates the casing for this purpose. A second operating handle is provided to bring about the reversal of the action of said grips.

Th mounting of the handles in this manner has meant that the casing of the puller has been open to the ingress of dust and dirt.

In the puller one set of grips is adapted to pull the rope through the machine in one direction while the other set of grips slides on the rope. Each set of grips has been operated by the reciprocation of its respective handle, the selection of the particular handle depending in which direction it was desired to move the rope through the puller.

The use of two separate handles for reversing the direction of the pull on the rope passing through the machine has sometimes proved dangerous. Also it sometimes happens, in reversing the direction of movement of the grips, the grip on the rope is lost, often with serious consequences. It is not unknown for the presence of dirt to be a contributory factor in making the operations of the puller unsatisfactory.

It is the object of this invention to improve a puller such as that described to avoid some of the difficulties at present experienced with its use.

In accordance with this invention, a puller, having a pair of grips and operating levers connecting said grips to rocking plates or the like, is provided with a substantially dust proof casing, an operating handle outside of said casing and a latch operated outside of said casing adapted to bring either one or other grip into action.

The invention also provides for the latch to be in the form of a movable bridle adapted to position the levers in their required operative positions within the casing.

The invention further provides for said latch to be attached to said handle and adapted to couple one or other of said rocking plates or the like to move its attached levers in the required direction.

The invention also provides an operating handle the stroke of which is adjustable, to cope with an increase in the load on the rope.

The invention also provides a puller which, having only one operating handle, worked by a simple reciprocative movement may be operated manually or with the attachment of a power drive and have the reversal of the action of the puller made by means of the latch, that is without reversing the rotation of a driving member.

The puller embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows in side elevation a puller in which the casing is closed with the latch and operating handle outside and the latter adjustable.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 but with the latch on the operating handle and the parts modified and for an adjustable handle to be attached when necessary, and

FIG. 3 shows details on an enlarged scale of the latch for the machine shown in FIG. 2.

In the drawings the rope is numbered 11 and passes through the casing 12. The anchoring plate for the puller is marked 13. The grips for gripping the rope are numbered 14 for the grip adapted to pull the rope in towards the anchor 13 and 15 for the grip operating in the reverse direction.

The lever 16 is rotatably coupled to the grip 14 and lever 17 is similarly coupled to the grip 15.

In the puller shown in FIG. 1 the operating lever 18 has a fulcrum about the pin 19 which is supported in a plate 20 in the casing 12. The short end of lever 18 is rotatable on pin 21 in link 22 which is coupled at 23 with an extension of rocking plate 24 to which the levers 16 and 17 are rotatably coupled. The rocking plate 24 is rotatably carried on shaft 25 which is a fulcrum for the levers 16, 17 and is mounted in the casing 12. In rocking plate 24, 26 is the pin coupling lever 17 and 27 the pin coupling the lever 16.

It will be understood that various parts in the puller are duplicated, but for the sake of clarity, only the one part shown in the elevation is referred to. For example there are two levers 16 one on each side of the grip 14 also lever 17 is duplicated in the same way and said levers are coupled one on each side of the grip 15.

In the operation of the machine, as shown in FIG. 1 it is assumed that the puller is anchored with plate 13 and that the rope 11 is to be pulled in towards 13. At the position shown the grip 15 is holding the rope 11. If now the long end of the handle 18 is moved towards the left the grip on the rope 11 will be taken by grip 14 and the pulling will start. At the same time grip 15 will slide along the rope 11 towards grip 14. With the reversal of the movement of the handle 18 the grip 15 will hold the rope 11 and the grip 14 will slide forward to take a new grip and will haul once again when handle 18 swings towards the left in the drawing.

With a load lifted, it often must be lowered with the same care. To do this, the action of the levers 16 and 17 and their respective grips 14 and 15, must be reversed. This reversal in FIG. 1 is done by lifting both levers simultaneously. Lever 17 will be disconnected from pin 28 and engaged with pin 29 and lever 16 will similarly be disconnected from pin 30 and engaged with pin 31. Both these pins 29, 31 are connected to grips 15 and 14 respectively.

In FIG. 1 the latch, which is made to reverse the pulling action, consists of a rod 32, with a knob 33 outside of the casing 12. Rod 32 carries a cross rod 34 freely slidable in pins 35 and 36 attached to the levers 16 and 17 respectively.

By lifting the knob 33 the recess 37 in lever 17 engages pin 29 and similarly the recess 38 in lever 16 engages pin 31. The knob 33 is shaped that when pulled up it can be turned to be supported in the new position.

Previously pullers, of somewhat similar construction, have had two reciprocating handles, one for hauling or raising the load and one for lowering it. The use of two handles has made the machine unsafe to operate, as well as leaving the casing open for the ingress of dirt. The latch, acting through the knob 33, is considered very much safer and acts Well for ordinary work but the use of recesses 37 and 38, for engaging the levers 17 and 16 with the grips and 14 respectively, have not been considered too safe under loads especially those which are subjected to any jerking, such as might occur when the load must be freed during lifting.

In order to increase the safety in the use of the puller and make it more effective, the latch for effecting reversal of the pull on the rope is positioned on the operating handle itself and a puller so modified is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIG, 2 the rope is numbered 11 and the casing 12 and some other parts are numbered corresponding to those in FIG. 1. In FIG. 3 the operating handle is numbered 39 and it is rotatable on the shraft which is a fulcrum for the levers 16 and 17 and in this case projects beyond the casing 12.

The part of the shaft 25 projecting beyond the casing 12 is reduced in diameter to provide a shoulder against which the handle 39, on a sleeve 41 entering the bore 42 in the handle, can oscillate. The shaft 25 is provided with crank cheeks 43 providing crank pin 44 on which the end of lever 16 is coupled to reciprocate. To connect handle 39 to shaft 25 there are provided a sleeve 41 and shear pins 45, which enter holes half way in the bore of sleeve 41 and the periphery of the shaft 25 (as shown in FIG. 3), to complete the connection. Plate 46 and set-screw 47 are provided to keep pins in place,

On the inside of the handle 39, that is towards the casing 12, is another sleeve 48 which is reduced in diameter at 49 to enter a corresponding hole in the casing 12.

Inside of the casing 12 is a rocking plate 50, which is rotatably connected to the sleeve 48 by shear pins 51. This rocking plate 50 is rotatably connected to a link 52 by a pin 53 and said link 52 is connected to the end of lever 17, which, in this case, is of bellcrank shape, and is connected to grip 15 through a projecting piece 54 by a pin 55. Link 56 holds the lever 17 in position by a pin 57 which acts as a fulcrum.

In this case, to make the handle 39 operate either the lever 16 or the lever 17, is a latch provided in the form of a rotatable pawl 58 pivoted directly to the end of the handle 39. Said pawl 58 can be turned to engage in notch 59 in sleeve 41 or in notch 60 in sleeve 48.

When the handle 39 is connected to shaft 25, through sleeve 41 and shear pins 45, the pull on the rope 11 is made through lever 16 and grip 14.

When the pawl 58 connects handle 39 to rocking plate 50, through sleeve 48, the link 52 is reciprocated to operate bell crank lever 17 and the rope is gripped by grip 15.

A spring 61, anchored to the casing 12 at 62, tends, through pin 55 in lever 17, to make grip 15 engage the rope 11 and hold it, at the same time any movement of the lower end of the bell crank 17 will tend to pull grip 14 by means of link 56. This means that under the pull of the spring 61 both grips 14 and 15 tend to hold the rope 11, and the load thereon is held safely. If now there was no load on the rope 11 and the action of spring 61 was counteracted the rope 11 could be pulled through both grips 14 and 15. This is done by pulling on pin 63 in a direction away from grip 14, by means of a link 64. The plate 65 joints the pins 63 and 55 and normally link 64 is pinned against operation.

The part 54 passes up to the top 66 as shown by the dotted lines. Where the puller is under load and the handle 39 cannot be operated, for example where the load or something else has prevented the use of the operating 4- handle, then a handle which could engage the top 66 of part 54 could operate through a leverage of pin 57 to move grip 15 and thus act, by successive oscillations to lower the load safely.

A suitable handle is made by using a part 67 of the casing 12. The part 67 conveniently serves as a carrying handle 68 for the puller, and by loosening bolts 69, 70 can be removed. Its forked end 71 will slip over the end 66 and may be used as a handle to move the grip 15 as desired.

Should it be desired to fit a handle, such as 18 shown in FIG. 1, and thereby provide a leverage more adapted for extra heavy loads, the casing 12 could be modified, as shown in dotted lines. The lever 18 would be fulerumed about a pin 72 and the lower end of lever 18 would be coupled by a pin 73 to a link 74, which would be rotatably coupled by a pin '75 to an extension 76 of the cheek of crank 43. An additional lever 18 as shown could be provided but usually it is not considered necessary in the improved puller illustrated and described in FIGS. 2 and 3. In fact this puller is the stronger and safer of the known pullers and will meet all requirements. It has the minimum number of working parts and with the mechanism enclosed in its casing, is kept in a dust proof manner.

The invention has been described as a puller operated manually, but it is obvious that a motor driven mechanism could be made to reciprocate handle 39 and, with the use of latch 58, the motor drive would not need to be reversed to reverse the action of the puller.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rope puller, the combination of a dust-proof casing, a pair of grips in said casing adapted to move over said rope in either gripping or release relation thereto, a shaft mounted in and projecting from said casing, a crank on said shaft, a lever pivotally connected to said crank and one of said grips, a rocking plate rotatably mounted on said shaft, a lever means pivotally connected to said plate and the other of said grips, a handle connected to said shaft exteriorly of said casing, a latch shaped as a pawl pivotally carried by said handle, freely rotatable sleeves on said shaft, notches in said sleeves adapted to be engaged by said pawl whereby the sleeve is moved by said handle, sheer pins engaging one sleeve in the crank shaft and sheer pins in the other sleeve en gaging it with said rocking plate whereby the handle may separately operate either grip.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein one grip is connected to said crank by only one lever and is the load carrying grip and wherein the other grip is connected to said rocking plate by a plurality of levers and is the load releasing or lowering grip.

3. In a rope puller, the combination of a dust-proof casing, a pair of grips in said casing adapted to move over said rope in either gripping or lease relation thereto, a shaft mounted in and projecting from said casing, an operating handle freely rotatable on said shaft exteriorly of said casing, a rocking plate pivoted on said shaft, means connecting the plate to said handle, a bell-crank lever connected to a first grip and a lever connecting said bell-crank lever to the rocking plate, an anchor for said second grip, said anchor being operatively connected to said bell-crank lever, and spring means operating to bring the first grip to rope engaging position.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3, wherein a man ually operated link means is secured to said spring in opposition thereto for counter-acting the action thereof and thereby release both grips on the rope.

5. In a rope puller, the combination of a dust-proof casing, a pair of grips in said casing adapted to move over said rope in either gripping or release relation there to, a shaft mounted in and projecting from said casing, an operating handle freely rotatable on said shaft ex- 5 6 teriorly of said casing, a rocking plate pivoted on said References Cited by the Examiner shaft, means connecting said plate to said handle, a bell- UNITED STATES PATENTS crank lever connected to one grip, a lever connecting said bell-crank lever to said rocking plate, said casing having 1,485,232 2/1924 McCain 254-70 a removable portion, said portion embodying a carrying 5 2,585,101 2/1952 Fame 254-476 handle for the machine and being fork-shaped at one end for engaging said bell-crank lever and acting as an WILLIAM FELDMAN Prmmry Exammer' emergency handle if the operating handle is unusable. OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Examiner. 

1. IN A ROPE PULLER, THE COMBINATION OF A DUST-PROOF CASING, A PAIR GRIPS IN SAID CASING ADAPTED TO MOVE OVER SAID ROPE IN EITHER GRIPPING OR RELEASE RELATION THERETO, A SHAFT MOUNTED IN SAID PROJECTING FROM SAID CASING, A CRANK ON SAID SHAFT, A LEVER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID CRANK AND ONE OF SAID GRIPS, A ROCKING PLATE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, A LEVER MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID PLATE AND THE OTHER OF SAID GRIPS, A HANDLE CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT EXTERIORLY OF SAID CASING, A LATCH SHAPED AS A PAWL PIVOTALLY CARRIED BY SAID HANDLE, FREELY ROTATABLE SLEEVES ON SAID SHAFT, NOTCHES IN SAID SLEEVES ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY SAID PAWL WHEREBY THE SLEEVE IS MOVED BY SAID HANDLE, SHEER PINS ENGAGING ONE SLEEVE IN THE CRANK SHAFT AND SHEER PINS IN THE OTHER SLEEVE ENGAGING IT WITH SAID ROCKING PLATE WHEREBY THE HANDLE MAY SEPARATELY OPERATE EITHER GRIP. 